Last year, ARCTIC revealed the underlying potential of all-in-one home entertainment centers. Our first notable MC001 entertainment center was successfully launched and remarkably praised by numerous media in USA (CPU, TechPowerUp, TomsHardware, Europe (KitGuru, Madshrimps, ProHardver, PC Tuning, HW Legend, InformaticaEasy, 59 Hardware, Cowcotland) and Canada (Overclockers Online) etc.

This year, ARCTIC continues with its spirit of innovation by creating a new generation of powerful home entertainment centers - the MC101 Series which will keep you entertained - always. We design our innovative technologies around you so that you can enjoy more with less effort. In addition to its cost-effective, multi-functional, and high level of accessibility, our MC101 Series deliver fast, compact and feather-light home entertainment solutions that are humbly perfect.

Japanese company Sanwa Supply probably wondered that if mini-keyboards are going to resemble those from smartphones and PDAs, why make them boxy, why not curvy and ergonomic. It came up with the SKB-WL16BK, a wireless mini-keyboard with a 2-axis joystick that can double up as a tracking device. It would make for a nice input-device for HTPCs, on which human-interaction is far limited compared to on desktop PCs.

The SKB-WL16BK gives you a QWERTY keypad with 76 keys, multimedia keys, a D-pad that doubles up as the keyboard's arrow keys, a 2-axis thumb-stick, and two triggers that double up as left-right clicks. The main unit measures D145 x W90 x H28 mm , weighing 168 g (including two AA batteries). It communicates to the PC over 2.4 GHz radio band. On sale, the SKB-WL16BK from Sanwa Supply is priced at 13,440 JPY (about US $174.3).

Cooler Master is preparing a new HTPC case for mini-ITX form-factor motherboards, the Elite 120, which was pictured at CES. It is built mostly from SECC steel, but its front bezel is made of aluminum. The case measures 240 x 205.6 x 382.5 mm (WxHxD). It features one 5.25-inch drive bay, four 3.5-inch bays, and two 2.5-inch ones. The only fan included with the case is a 120 mm front intake, but there are provisions for more fans, at least one on the side. Its front-panel includes one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0, and audio jacks.

The most feature-rich in the trio of Lian Li's new mini-ITX Q-series cases is the PC-Q18. It is designed for performance desktops and HTPCs. Measuring 199 x 290 x 365 mm (WxHxD), the PC-Q18 is designed keeping in mind the need for a performance machine to be airy, and is hence complemented with large fans. It can hold a mini-ITX form-factor motherboard with two full-height add-on card bays, hence having the ability to hold a double-slot graphics card.

Storage features include one 5.25-inch drive bay, which is valved; four (yes, four!) hot-swap capable 3.5-inch drive bays, with drive caddies that are so designed to accommodate up to three 2.5-inch drives. It has room for a 140 mm front-intake and a 140 mm top exhaust. Front-panel connectivity includes audio and USB 3.0. The chassis is made almost entirely of aluminum.

Following the release of the already popular Bluetooth based Chill KB-1BT Micro Keyboard; Danish company Chill Innovation A/S has now also launched a 2.4G RF based version optimized for HTPC (Home Theater PC), Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The new Chill KB-1RF Micro Keyboard comes factory pre-paired with the tiny Nano USB dongle included. Just plug it in your host, and you are in control.

The wireless Chill KB-1RF Micro Keyboard can also be operated in BIOS environment etc. Furthermore it supports Wake-on-USB, so you can turn on your PC right from the Keyboard (when supported by the host) - a highly welcomed feature among HTPC users.

Gigabyte released its newest premium HTPC motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, the A75N-USB3. As the name might suggest, this is a socket FM1 motherboard based on the AMD A75 chipset, and features USB 3.0 connectivity. Despite its compact dimensions, the board crams in everything a HTPC can benefit from. First, the FM1 socket seats AMD A-Series accelerated processing units (APUs), which pack up to four x86-64 cores with up to 4 MB cache, dual-channel DDR3-1866 integrated memory controller, and more importantly, a very powerful integrated graphics processor in the Radeon HD 6500 class. The FM1 socket on this board is powered by a 3+1 phase VRM that makes use of driver-MOSFETs. Power is drawn by a 24-pin ATX and a 4-pin CPU power connector.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16. The CPU is wired to two full-length DDR3 DIMM slots, which can take in up to 32 GB (that's right, future 16 GB DIMMs are supported) of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory. The AMD A75 chipset gives out four internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and one eSATA 6 Gb/s port on the rear panel. Display outputs include HDMI 1.4a and DVI. Analog outputs are done away with. Audio is handled by a high-quality Realtek ALC889 HD audio codec. Although this codec supports 8+2 output channels, it is wired to a 5.1 channel shared audio jack cluster, apart from the internal HDA_FP header. Those needing 7.1 channel output can still use the TOSLINK connector, that supports 7.1 channel output with 24-bit, 192 kHz resolution and Dolby Home Theater support. If even that's not enough, the HDMI connector gives you 7.1 channel HDMI audio with Dolby Prologic support.

Ltd, maker of high-end, all-aluminum computer chassis for over 13 years, is proud to announce the release of two new PC cases: the HTPC PC-V353 and Mini-Tower PC-Q25. A new edition to Lian Li's HTPC chassis series, the PC-V353 features a handsome front mesh design and is available in eye-catching black or silver. The aluminum-front mini-tower PC-Q25 offers a contemporary design that lends itself to any professional or home environment, and is available in black and silver colors. Both of these models offer impressive engineering, the convenience of tool-free installation, and excellent air-flow.

Gigabyte launched a new socket LGA1155 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, the GA-H61N-USB3. It is targeted at HTPCs and compact desktops, and is based on the Intel H61 Express (B3) chipset. In its tiny board area of 289 cm², Gigabyte manages to cram in the essentials that the board's consumers will need. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 6-phase VRM design. The board draws power from a standard 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. The CPU is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR3-1333 MHz memory. The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16.

In the area of connectivity, we're a little baffled by Gigabyte's choices. There are two SATA 3 Gb/s ports, but that's next to a TPM header, which could have easily made room for two more SATA ports. The board uses high-quality Realtek ALC889 HD audio CODEC, but instead of wiring it to an 8-channel audio jack cluster, it's wired to a 6-channel one, and space is wasted on an optical/coaxial SPDIF out cluster. Instead, Gigabyte could have used the hybrid cluster that has 8-channel analog outputs as well as a TOSLINK output, like this one. Nevertheless, there's plenty of display connectivity, including DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI 1.4a. There are four USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports driven by Fresco FL1009 controller. There is one power-eSATA port wired to the PCH. A gigabit Ethernet connection makes for the only networking option. The Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 is priced at around $105.

ECS announced a trio of socket FM1 motherboards supporting AMD A-Series APUs. It includes an ATX motherboard targeting the home/gamer PC market, the A55F-A, a micro-ATX board targeting HTPCs, the A55F-M2, and another one targeting office desktops, the A55F-M3. Featuring in ECS Black Series, the A55F-A has just about all the goods to make up a budget gaming PC based on the A-Series APU. Budget gamers can start off with the integrated GPU (which is quite fast for 720p gaming), and then add discrete graphics cards. The extra room of standard ATX is wasted by three legacy PCI slots. There's plenty of connectivity, including USB 3.0, eSATA 6 Gb/s, five internal SATA 6 Gb/s, etc.

The A55F-M2 ticks all the checkboxes for an HTPC motherboard, one that doesn't rely on discrete graphics and yet has the resources for quality 1080p video playback. In this case, taking advantage of the powerful integrated GPU of AMD A-series, and HDMI 1.4a output (making it Blu-ray 3D ready). The HDMI port gives out 7.1 channel digital audio, or there's 6-channel analog audio to fall back on. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports are internal, to run all the 3 TB hard drives you can afford to throw in. The A55F-M3 is a compact micro-ATX board with just about enough features to make for an office desktop based on the AMD A-Series APU platform. There's no fancy connectivity, there's SATA 6 Gb/s to support the latest hard drives and cheap SSDs in the future, analog D-Sub video output (not very future-proof), and bare essential connectivity.

ASUS unveiled its first socket FM1 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, catering to the premium HTPC and small form-factor (SFF) markets. Like with similar mini-ITX boards, the F1A75-I Deluxe crams in all the connectivity features it can on its tiny PCB, outdoing even large ATX boards. It is based on the AMD A75 chipset. The FM1 socket supports AMD's A-Series "Llano" APUs, and is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM. It is wired to two full-length DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory. The board draws power from standard 24-pin ATX with 4-pin CPU power.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16, letting you plug in just about any PCIe addon card. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports with RAID support, and one eSATA 6 Gb/s. Other connectivity features include 6-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF (our only gripe), four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header), WiFi b/g/n, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, HDMI 1.4a, and DisplayPort 1.2. The HDMI 1.4a output includes 8-channel HD audio of the GPU, so the 6 analog audio channels is sort of compensated. The board features ASUS TPU performance control chip, EPU energy-efficiency chip, and a UEFI firmware with ASUS EZ-mode GUI setup program. There's no word on pricing.

ASRock launched its newest motherboard, the Z68M-ITX. As the name suggests, it is a socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel Z68 Express chipset, in the mini-ITX form factor. ASRock's new board is aimed squarely at HTPCs or premium home desktops. It uses a standard ATX power supply, drawing power from a 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power headers. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 4-phase VRM, it is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory, the lone expansion slot: a PCI-Express 2.0 x16, and the Z68 PCH. Z68 provides overclocking capabilities, as well as Intel Flexible Display Interface (FDI) letting you use the integrated graphics, and Intel Smart Response Technology that lets you use SSD for caching HDDs

Connectivity includes 8 channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, driven by Realtek ALC892 CODEC, two USB 3.0 ports driven by ASMedia ASM1042 controller, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Storage connectivity consists of two each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports, and an eSATA 3 Gb/s port. Display connectivity includes HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub. The board is driven by UEFI firmware, with a graphical setup program. ASRock bundles a specially-designed Windows Media Center remote control, which comes with a multi-sensor CIR USB dongle that can receive infrared signal from a number of angles. ASRock did not give out pricing.

Thermal Solutions specialist GELID Solutions adds a 66mm high multi compatible CPU Cooler with PWM fan to its popular SILENT product portfolio. The Siberian with its super competitive pricing contains a premium aluminum heat sink and a silent 80mm fan with GELID intelligent PWM control. The cooler offers multi compatibility for AMD & Intel latest sockets. It features a compact size and is especially suitable for HTPC and small chassis. The silent fan achieves high airflow rate and the GELID intelligent PWM Control accelerates the fan speed only when it's necessary.

The cooler is RoHS and WEEE conform and carries a warranty of 5 year. "The perfect choice of CPU cooler for system builders looking to replace the stock cooler with a single cooler that fits all platforms", said Gebhard Scherrer Sales Director of GELID Solutions Ltd.

World famous mainboard and graphic card manufacturer MSI today officially announces their brand new AMD A75-Series mainboard A75MA-G55 with Military Class II components to equip the mainboard with the best quality and highest stability. The amazing graphical performance of the A-Series APUs is complimented by the implementation of USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s ports to give the fastest performance when you're playing games, video editing, transferring files from mobile devices. With support for HDMI, DVI and 7.1 channel audio, the A75MA-G55 in its small MicroATX form factor is the perfect choice whether it is as a complete and powerful desktop PC or a versatile and efficient HTPC. MSI's A75MA-G55 is truly the best choice in high quality, high performance and high convenience.

Building on its reputation for special editions and silent cooled graphics cards, SAPPHIRE Technology has just introduced the ULTIMATE Edition of the SAPPHIRE HD 6670, boasting the full performance and features of the fan cooled models, but with a totally silent heatpipe cooler. Helping to demonstrate its best-in-class performance the HD 6670 ULTIMATE bundle will include an access code for the latest hot driving game, Codemasters Dirt3! The SAPPHIRE HD 6670 ULTIMATE has 480 Stream Processors and sports 1GB of the latest DDR5 memory. With clock speeds of 800MHz core and 1000MHz (4GHz effective) for the memory, it delivers the same performance as fan cooled models, but with a totally silent heatpipe cooler, making it one of the fastest and most capable silent-cooled graphics card available today.

The output configuration on the bracket is Dual-Link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort and a DVI to VGA adapter is included. The SAPPHIRE HD 6670 ULTIMATE will support three monitors in Eyefinity mode with a suitable DisplayPort monitor or active display adapter. In addition, native CrossFire support allows two or more cards to be used together for additional performance on a suitable CrossFireX compatible mainboard.

The Japanese manufacturer Scythe Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) officially announces the availability of new low profile Top-Flow CPU Cooler Kozuti. Unlike regular coolers, the fan is positioned below the fins, reducing the total height of the cooler significantly.

The Kozuti CPU Cooler is equipped with a total of three 6mm heat pipes. Applying the newly developed S.F.M.S (Stealth Fan Mounting Structure) the heatpipes are arranged in a low profile oval structure. This enables to provide space for the 80 x 80 x 10mm fanmotor in between the oval structure and below the fins, making it merely 40mm in height. This positions the cooler to be our most compact and slim cooler fit for HTPCs and slim chassis systems. Active cooling is achieved by the 80 x 80 x 10 mm slim fan the speed of 800 rpm (± 30%) - 3.300 rpm (± 10%), generating an air flow of 6.0 CFM ~ 24.82CFM = 10.2 m³ / h ~ 42.2 m³ / h at a noise level of 8.2 ~ 32.5 dBA.

Club 3D B.V. releases the new Radeon HD 6450 1GB DD3 Noiseless Edtition, the industry second generation of DirectX 11 capable graphics card.This new card features a heatsink cooler design aimed at the HTPCs users and with UVD3 (Universal Video Decoder), improved tessellation engine and higher clock speeds makes the perfect fit for users who are looking an entry level card that is affordable and packs a punch. Offering a low profile card customers can expect this card to be bundled with 2 Low Profile brackets like usually offered by Club 3D on Low Profile items.

ASUS has released the ASUS GT 520, a graphics card that combines great performance with a low profile that is perfectly suited to be used in an HTPC. With an innovative fanless design, the GT 520 efficiently and silently dissipates heat while still offering outstanding graphics performance. 1GB of DDR3 memory and Microsoft DirectX 11 support means the GT 520 displays the latest in multimedia entertainment with ease.

Based on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 GPU, the ASUS GT 520 is equipped with an efficiently designed heatsink that passively cools the GT 520 so absolutely no sound is produced while running. This ensures a quiet environment, and combined with the low profile of the graphics card makes it perfect for hushed gaming and multimedia enjoyment via home theater PCs and multimedia centers.

Gigabyte sneaked in its latest motherboard for SFF (small form-factor) fans, the GA-H67N-USB3-B3. This mini-ITX motherboard supports socket LGA1155 Intel Core processors, and is based on the Intel H67 chipset (B3 revision). The board supports every LGA1155 Core processor released till date, its designers didn't have to worry much about its electricals since you're not going to overclock on H67. Yet, the board packs a 4+2 phase VRM for the CPU, that's compliant with Intel's VRD 12 specification. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory support, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot.

In the storage department, there are two SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the chipset, two SATA 3 Gb/s, and one eSATA 3 Gb/s, also from the chipset. Its display connectivity surprisingly includes two HDMI ports, and one D-Sub. Audio is care of the high-grade Realtek ALC889 HDA CODEC, which can deliver 108 dB signal-to-noise ratio, the board also provides coaxial and optical SPDIF output connectivity. Other connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board features dual-BIOS with an EFI module that allows you to boot from a 3 TB+ volume. Gigabyte's H67N-USB3-B3 is expected to be priced around the $120 mark. This one for the HTPC.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced The SPARKLE GeForce GT 440 Graphics Cards for home theater enthusiasts and casual gamers, which have everything users need to spoil users senses. The SPARKLE GeForce GT 440 Graphics Cards adopt the Fermi architecture which accelerate your digital life. Designed with unparalleled levels of price/performance, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 440 Graphics Cards are the perfect GPU for LAN party pwning.The SPARKLE GeForce GT 440 Graphics Cards dominates the competition and offers amazing game realism on the latest DirectX 11 titles like Civilization V. Equipped with the latest industry leading technologies including NVIDIA 3D Vision, NVIDIA PhysX, high performance NVIDIA GeForce drivers, and more, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 440 Graphics Cards have everything you need to spoil your senses.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) is delighted to introduce the latest Intel based mini-ITX motherboard - ECS H67H2-I motherboard, designing to support the 2nd generation Intel Core processors and redefining home theater PC of the new era.

ECS has been very experienced and professional at Research & Development of small form factors motherboards, and we have envisioned that there will be a growing trend for HTPC. At both CeBIT & Computex exhibitions in 2010, ECS H55H-I was the first HTPC platform of mini-ITX form factor; it definitely caught visitors' attention among all similar categories. ECS H55H-I motherboard has successfully fulfilled product differentiation from the origins and ECS H67H2-I motherboard definitely will break the record in 2011. ECS H67H2-I motherboard continues carrying the advantages of space-saving, power-efficiency and surely brings much more vivid 3D visual experience as it supports amazing GPU O.C capability along with features of blu-ray HD playback and 3D gaming experience.

KFA2, the New European premium brand of Galaxy, announced today its launch of the two new custom edition KFA2 GTX 460's Graphics cards, which are both European Industry's first's - Introducing the Razor Single Slot Solution.

The KFA2 GeForce GTX 460 Razor Single Slot Solution series delivers the ultimate 'best-in-class' next generation gaming experience and is known to be one of the best Graphics cards on the market to fit in the Prices Vs Performance section. "With the KFA2 GTX 460 Razor single slot solution, this has only excelled the GTX460's overall capability by not only enabling small form factor systems, including HTPC to be able to have impressive performance and features of GTX460 in their build, but also gives the high-end Enthusiast the option to fit six of these slim beasts into one machine" said Graham Brown - European Marketing Manager.

Sapphire is keeping the All-in-Wonder series alive to an extant with its latest graphics card suited for home PCs and HTPCs, the Sapphire HD 5570 Xtend TV. The card is a full-height DirectX 11 compliant Radeon HD 5570 which integrates a standard-definition TV tuner. The tuner can scan for, and store channels, you can also program the software to record them at a set time. As a graphics card, it packs 320 stream processors and 512 MB/1 GB of GDDR3 memory over a 128-bit memory interface.

At a time when everyone including ASUS is cramming the AMD Fusion E-350 APU into netbooks and mini-ITX motherboards to get rid of Atom; the motherboard major saw "bigger" prospects for the E-350, and designed a micro-ATX motherboard based on it. The E35M1-M Pro from ASUS uses AMD Fusion E-350 APU that embeds a dual-core x86-64 processor based on the "Bobcat" architecture with an AMD Radeon HD 6310 DirectX 11 compliant GPU. The processor is backed by the brand new Hudson M1 single-package chipset. The E35M1-M Pro is intended for everything from office PCs to home PCs, and HTPCs. It draws power from conventional 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors, and uses a 3+1 phase VRM.

The CPU and chipset share a heatsink. The CPU is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, one PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. Storage expansion includes five internal SATA 6 Gb/s and one eSATA 6 Gb/s. Connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, 7.1 channel audio over HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, FireWire, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. ASUS added a bunch of exclusive features that can let you squeeze out the most performance, and manage power consumption.

The compact-sized Freezer 11 LP brings low noise cooling into low profile and HTPC Systems. With a height of 53mm only, the cooler squeezes into even most tiny PC cases. With dimensions of 115(L)*106(W)*53(H)mm, having a weight of only 255g, the Freezer 11LP is extremely compact. It fits virtually into any low profile PC case and is the ideal choice for any HTPC system.

Equipped with an ultra-quiet 92mm PWM fan and two copper heatpipes, the Freezer 11 LP offers a maximum cooling capacity of 90W. The dual high performance 6mm heatpipes efficiently dissipate the heat from the CPU into the block consisting of 50 aluminum fins.

The first motherboard that brings the AMD Fusion "Brazos" platform to nettops was pictured, the GA-E350V-USB3, which is a mini-ITX motherboard that makes use of AMD Fusion E-350 accelerated processing unit (APU), and Hudson M1 chipset. AMD is targeting the nettop and HTPC markets with such motherboards, also as competitors to Atom and new Pentium Dual-Core (LGA1156/LGA1155) desktops. The GA-E350V-USB3 makes use of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 construction that makes use of a PCB with 2x copper layers, solid-state capacitors, low RDS (on) MOSFETs, and ferrite core chokes.

The board uses a 3+2 phase power design. The Fusion E-350, like the Intel Atom, is hard-wired to the board, and cooled by a small fan-heatsink. It connects to two DDR3 DIMM slots for single-channel DDR3-1800+ MHz memory. The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8). The Fusion APU packs two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, and an AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics processor that features 80 stream processors, and clock speed of 500 MHz. Connectivity include four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, 8-channel HD audio, two USB 3.0 ports, display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Pricing and availability are not known, as AMD didn't officially launch the platform.